Air pump assembly for ventilative footwear

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is an air pump assembly for ventilative footwear, in which the air pump assembly is mounted onto a heel portion of an outsole, so that external air is forcibly introduced into an interior of a shoe when walking, thereby cleaning the interior of the shoe and providing a pedestrian with a cushion function. If the air pump assembly is compressed by the compression force, the bending portion is smoothly bent along the resilient ring, while if the compression force is released, the rigid plate the bending portion is naturally restored. Accordingly, the fatigue of the bending portion due to the repeated retraction is reduced, thereby preventing the rupture of the assembly and thus extending its life.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to an air pump assembly for ventilative footwear, and particularly, to an air pump assembly for ventilative footwear, in which the air pump assembly is mounted onto a heel portion of an outsole, so that external air is forcibly introduced into an interior of a shoe when walking, thereby cleaning the interior of the shoe and providing a pedestrian with a cushion function.

BACKGROUND ART

[0002] Since the construction of conventional footwear is difficult to ventilate the air within an interior of a shoe, perspiration and moisture generated from a foot are not discharged outwardly. Therefore, the interior of the shoe is always dampish, and has an offensive odor, thereby causing dermatophytosis.

[0003] In order to prevent the above problem, although footwear having various designs to ventilate the interior has been proposed, the footwear has some disadvantages of unacceptable function and effect. To solve the disadvantages, the applicant proposed Korean Utility Model Application No. 1997-000167, entitled “air pump assembly for ventilative footwear”, the disclosure of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

[0004] With the construction of the prior air pump assembly, repeated application of the weight of a pedestrian to the air pump assembly causes an elastic cover to be contracted. At that time, a middle portion of the elastic cover is outwardly extended. Accordingly, it is expected that a hollow portion of an outsole is damaged by the friction of inner surfaces of the hollow portion. In addition, the a degree of fatigue of the hollow portion is increased by repeated compression and restoration, thereby causing a repeatedly folded portion to be ruptured.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the problems involved in the prior art and to provide an air pump assembly for ventilative footwear, in which a resilient ring is provided in a center portion of an elastic cover to form a concave portion, and upon pumping of the air pump assembly the elastic cover is inwardly retracted and then restored to increase a pumping and damping efficiency.

[0006] In order to accomplish the above mentioned object, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an air pump assembly for ventilative footwear, the air pump assembly comprising: a base plate with check valves for regulating air flow mounted on both sides; an upper rigid plate; a compression spring interposed between the base plate and the upper rigid plate; an elastic cover covering the upper rigid plate, with a border thereof being airtightly hot-melted onto the base plate; and a resilient ring interposed between the base plate and the rigid plate, so that a middle portion of the elastic cover is pulled toward a center axis of the resilient ring to form a concave bending portion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] The above objects, other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing the preferred embodiment thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0008]FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an air pump assembly for ventilative footwear according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0009]FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view taken along a line A-A in FIG. 1.

[0010]FIGS. 3a and 3 b are perspective views illustrating alternative embodiments of a resilient ring according to present invention.

[0011]FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view illustrating the operation of an air pump assembly for ventilative footwear according to the present invention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0012] Now, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout several views. In addition, the detained description on the function or construction of the known parts will be omitted for clarity.

[0013]FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an air pump assembly for ventilative footwear according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view taken along a line A-A in FIG. 1. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the air pump assembly comprises a base plate 14 with a pair of rear and front check valves for regulating air flow 22 a and 22 b mounted on both sides, an upper rigid plate 16, a truncated cone-type compression spring 18 interposed between the base plate 14 and the upper rigid plate 16, and an elastic cover 12 made of a resin having a superior elastic force and covering the upper rigid plate 16, with a border thereof being airtightly hot-melted onto the base plate 14. A resilient ring 20 is interposed between the base plate 14 and the rigid plate 16, so that a middle portion of the elastic cover 12 is pulled toward a center axis of the resilient ring to form a concave bending portion 13.

[0014] The rear check valve 22 a is connected to an intake tube 24 communicating with the atmosphere, while the front check valve 22 b is connected to a supply tube 26 communicating with the interior of the shoe. The resilient ring 20 is closely contacted with an outer edge of the middle portion of the elastic cover 12, and applies a certain level of elastic force to the middle portion. Preferably, the resilient ring 20 is made of a rubber or synthetic resin having a superior elastic force, and has a circular shape when seen from a top. Each of the base plate 14 and rigid plate 16 has a fixing portion 19 for rigidly fixing the compression spring 18, the fixing portion 19 protruded from an inner surface of the base plate and rigid plate in a shape of ring. With the above construction, when the compression spring 18 is compressed, a noise is significantly reduced.

[0015]FIGS. 3a and 3 b are perspective views illustrating alternative embodiments of a resilient ring according to present invention. The resilient ring 20 shown in the above embodiment may be replaced with a coil spring 20 a having an excellent elastic force as shown in FIG. 3a, or a hollow pipe 20 b made of same material as that of the coil spring 20 a as shown in FIG. 3b.

[0016] The air pump assembly for ventilative footwear according to the present invention functions as follows:

[0017]FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view illustrating the operation of an air pump assembly for ventilative footwear according to the present invention. If the pressure is applied to the air pump assembly 10 upon walking, the rigid plate 16 is lowered, and thus the compression spring 18 is compressed, as shown in FIG. 4. The elastic cover 12 is retracted to discharge the air from the air pump assembly 10 to the interior of the shoe via the check valve 22 b and the supply tube 26. Alternatively, the air flow may be adversely converted by installing the check valves 22 a and 22 b to discharge the moisture and air from the shoe to the external. At that time, the compression of the elastic cover 12 causes the resilient ring 20 to pull the bending portion 13 inwardly. The bending portion 13 is smoothly bent along the resilient ring 20. If the compression force is released, the rigid plate 16 is raised by the compression spring 18, and the elastic cover 12 is naturally restored, so that the air pump assembly 10 is filled with the external air through the intake tube 24 and the check valve 22 a. The inwardly retraction of the elastic cover 12 increases a discharging amount of the air from the air pump assembly.

[0018] As the result that a piston repeatedly applies an acting force of 20 to 80 kilograms to the air pump assembly constructed as described above, the prior assembly is ruptured at about 80,000 times, while the present assembly is ruptured at about 8,000,000 times.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

[0019] As apparent from the above description, if the air pump assembly is compressed by the compression force, the bending portion is smoothly bent along the resilient ring, while if the compression force is released, the rigid plate the bending portion is naturally restored. Accordingly, the fatigue of the bending portion due to the repeated retraction is reduced, thereby preventing the rupture of the assembly and thus extending its life.

[0020] In addition, since the elastic cover is inwardly compressed when the air pump assembly is compressed, the discharging amount of the internal air is increased. And, when the elastic cover is restored, the external air is sucked by the elastic cover. Accordingly, the flow rate of the air is maximized, and a fresh air is sufficiently supplied to the interior of the shoe by the air pump assembly, thereby preventing the offensive odor and the dermatophytosis.

[0021] Furthermore, since the air pump assembly increases the sucking and supplying efficiency of the air, there is a damping effect of reducing a shocking force and thus fatigue of the pedestrian. 

1. An air pump assembly for ventilative footwear, the air pump assembly comprising: a base plate with check valves for regulating air flow mounted on both sides; an upper rigid plate; a compression spring interposed between the base plate, and the upper rigid plate; an elastic cover covering the upper rigid plate, with a border thereof being airtightly hot-melted onto the base plate; and a resilient ring interposed between the base plate and the rigid plate, so that a middle portion of the elastic cover is pulled toward a center axis of the resilient ring to form a concave bending portion.
 2. The air pump assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the resilient ring is closely contacted with an outer edge of the middle portion of the elastic cover.
 3. The air pump assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the resilient ring is a coil spring.
 4. The air pump assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the resilient ring is a hollow pipe.
 5. The air pump assembly as claimed in claim 2, wherein the resilient ring is a coil spring.
 6. The air pump assembly as claimed in claim 2, wherein the resilient ring is a hollow pipe. 